Inspired by the sticky foot pads of geckos, we reported a new approach to cleaning micrometric and sub-micrometric dust particles from solid surfaces using polymeric microfibrillar structures. When a contaminated surface is touched with these soft and flexible microstructures, the microfibrils generate strong adhesion with the dust particles, enough to collect the particles but not so much that the fibrils stick to the contaminated substrate. This simple, fast, and nondestructive dust cleaning technique has potential application for getting dust off delicate and dust-sensitive surfaces and devices, such as integrated circuits, microelectromechanical systems, and even sensitive works of art.

For the first time, Teflon AF nanopillars terminated with a ‘‘fluffy’’ top layer are fabricated by replica-molding with a nanoporous anodic aluminum oxide membrane as the mold. The rigidity and exceptionally low surface energy of Teflon AF along with the presence of the top ‘‘fluffy’’ nanostructure itself effectively hinder the self-sticking of high aspect-ratio, high density nanopillars. This type of hierarchical nanopillar is shown to be an efficient dry adhesive that can generate strong adhesion both in air and under water.

Due to their non-conductive matrix, insulating polymers are becoming naturally charged at the surface upon contact with other materials (or themselves). Considering typical large charge densities that polymers develop in this way, it is expected that gecko-inspired adhesives made from such polymers experience significant electrostatic interactions upon contact, a fact which has not been accounted for in detail so far.